"Share At Door Step" Founder Anushka Jain's Interview

We invited Anushka Jain, Founder of “Share At Door Step” for an interview with Most Popular Stories to know more about his entrepreneurial journey.

Anushka Jain is an engineer by degree, a marketer by chance and an Entrepreneur by choice, she started SADS when she observed the challenges faced by her mother, who could not find time to go to an NGO to donate clothes and books. Anushka regularly trains NGOs and corporates on cause marketing and had been featured as a domain expert on various platforms.

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey as an entrepreneur.

I am Anushka, founder of “Share At Door Step” – a cause-commerce platform that allows users to donate goods effortlessly and earn rewards. Through SADS, we are solving the problem of “piling goods” in households by helping people get rid of unwanted stuff in a responsible manner.

My journey as a social entrepreneur started when I noticed a gap between NGOs and the people who were looking for easier options to give away the unwanted goods that were just lying in some corner of their houses getting dusted.

The idea of “Share At Door Step” was coined while I was visiting an NGO on my birthday. So, my mom used to take me to an orphanage on my birthday every year and we used to donate toys to the kids and spend some time with them. I used to think about why we do it just once a year. I thought my mom is busy or really lazy but I realized later that the real
the reason was that there was no easy way to donate goods.

And hence “Share At Door Step” was born.

I put up a website through which people can schedule a pickup for donations and requests started pouring in. I did the initial 150 pickups myself so understand if there is a product-market fit.

What worked really well for us was getting customers organically through word of mouth. India is a society where ‘doing good’ is inherent and valued. All we did was to provide an avenue for people and brands to channelize this positive attribute and thereby give back to society…which is actually very satisfying and rewarding.

Also, another major contributing factor was the startup ecosystem we have in India esp. in Bangalore where one can actually reach out and advice from the successful serial entrepreneurs who have been through similar experiences in the past and thus we skipped a lot of those hits and trials that otherwise we would have gone through.

Still, we went through multiple iterations and tweaks to transition from a basic idea to a company that can sustain itself.

Currently, we have a user base of more than 2.5L households and 80+ corporate clients. We support more than 100 NGOs across 9 cities in India.

Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?

I think I never consciously made a choice. I saw a problem that was affecting me and others and I learned how much impact we can make together if we solve this problem – the problem of piling goods in the houses and unavailability of an easy way to get rid of the same in a responsible manner.

What was the vision behind it?

The vision behind “Share At Door Step” is to create a world where every re-usable item reaches someone in need and doesn’t end up in landfills.

Describe the services that you offer to your customers and in what way they are unique?

There are a lot of platforms through which people can make cash donations but there is very few that deal with non-cash ones i.e in-kind donations.

We all have those unwanted preloved belongings – clothes, toys, stationery, furniture, electronics, etc.- that can be used by someone in need. Share At Door Step (SADS) is one of the kind social ventures that makes it easy for you to give those items a new life by providing you a convenient and transparent way to donate them to trusted NGOs.

How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?

I have been practicing yoga for quite some time and I think that keeps me really calm and grounded. I have also picked up golfing lately and that works as a real stress buster for me.

What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup?

Having a vision that resonates with everyone and to be able to communicate it well to customers/employees/clients- this has really worked for us.

How your company is helping India to grow?

There are so many amazing NGOs in India that are contributing in several ways to ensure that India sees poverty eradication, sustainable growth, and empowerment of the downtrodden. However, most of the NGOs do not have the required resources and budgets to reach out to more people and communicate about their initiatives and requirements.

Through Share At Door Step, the NGOs get access to in-kind donations made by millions of donors and corporates and hence move forward in their journey of sustainable growth.

In your opinion what are the keys to success?

Setting your priorities right in everything you do
The confidence and faith you have in yourself

What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?

I think I swear by this one rule – that if you have this one idea that solves a problem that you feel really strongly for, then just go for it because there would never be that perfect time when you will have everything figured out.

It’s not just the startup journey that is fun but also a journey of self -discovery as you go through a personal transformation and learn so much about yourself.